Tuesday 28 February 2012

Olympics send house prices soaring...

Since July 2005, when London was awarded the right to host the 2012 Olympics, the average value of houses in the 13 postal districts closest to Olympic park in Stratford, east London, has increased by more than £62,739 to £268,884.

The study that was carried out by Lloyds TSB shows that house prices have risen by 30%, which is the same as a monthly rise of £815.

Over the same period of time, house prices have increased by 25% across England and Wales.

House prices in the borough of Hackney, have increased the most, with Dalston and Homerton showing the highest rises, with a rise of 55% to an average of £359,436 and £332,102 respectively. 


In Stratford itself, the average house price has grown by 13% to £227,893. ....



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Monday 27 February 2012

People receiving housing benefit living in luxury...

Figures released recently have revealed that at least one hundred families who are receiving housing benefit are living on handouts that could fund £1m mortgages and are supporting them in living in luxury homes. Over thirty families are being given a whopping £1,500 a week to live on (over three times the national average wage) meaning that they get to live 'swanky' lifestyles. According to the Department for Work and Pensions, a further 60 families have their rent paid by the state to the value of £5,000 a month. Need conveyancing? Visit us at www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Sunday 26 February 2012

Increase In site traffic at Rightmove...

Despite the housing market having been lying somewhat dormant, Rightmove have enjoyed a number of record viewing days, one right after the other. Rightmove said this week that ‘traffic’ was up more than 20% at the beginning of 2012 as house-hunters logged on to see the 1.1m homes advertised on rightmove.co.uk. The website was the seventh most-used in the UK in January – behind Facebook, Google, eBay, YouTube, Amazon and Yahoo. Need conveyancing? Visit us! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Thursday 23 February 2012

"Clampdown on interest-only mortgages traps borrowers"

"The UK's major high street lenders have made it almost impossible for thousands of homeowners on interest-only mortgages to move home. The new, stricter rules on lending criteria, also mean very few new borrowers will qualify for an interest-only product. Lloyds Banking Group will no longer accept cash savings, including Isas, as an acceptable way to fund the repayment of an interest-only mortgage. Instead, Lloyds – which includes Lloyds TSB, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Cheltenham & Gloucester – views investment products such as endowments and equity Isas as better longer term vehicles with which to settle an interest-only mortgage." Need conveyancing? Visit us! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk Posted by Simon Bayliss. at Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at Oxfordhomesdirect.blogspot.com

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Annual increase on mortgage lending is up 10%...

Although mortgage lending had fallen by 14.4% in January 2012 it was 10% higher than in January 2011. This was partially due to the government's stamp duty holiday on properties worth up to £250,000 meaning that first-time buyers were rushing to finalise house purchases before it came into play. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, gross lending of £10.5billion has marked the sixth month of year-on-year rises. It said the deadline on 24 March for the end of the stamp duty-free period had boosted activity, while the month-on-month drop was due to an "expected" seasonal decline. However, that seasonal decline was more marked than 12 months ago – the fall in lending from December 2010 to January 2011 was 10.15% compared to this year's 14.4% drop. Need conveyancing? Visit www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Monday 20 February 2012

Thierry revamps his £6m home to accommodate his 300 fish with a four-storey 5,000 gallon fish tank

Thierry Henry has recently started renovations on his £6million luxury home in order to accommodate his 300 fish by installing a fish tank that will stretch from the very top of his house to the bottom. The tank will require 5,500 gallons of water to fill and has set the Footballer back £250,000 to build. The former Arsenal striker's home has been hailed as one of the finest examples of modern architecture, only being recently finished in 1999, however he has submitted controversial plans to rip down his North London House and replace it with a newer, bigger and better house- to include new mega aquarium. Moving home? Need conveyancing? Visit us!! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Sunday 19 February 2012

Mortgage applications jeopardised due to O2 debt yet again....

Guardian Money reported a case in February 2011 in which Adam Vaughan's chances of getting a mortgage of £220,000 was jeopardised due to a missed payment of only £7.91 for a mobile phone bill. One year on and this time it is a missed payment of £57, yet again on a mobile phone bill that is standing between Conal Duffy and his dream home. The common theme in both cases is O2 mobile phone company black marking these people who otherwise have clean credit record. These cases have provided more evidence which links trivial hiccups with mobile phone contracts to people failing to obtain mortgages, loans and credit cards. Far too often, people are then being turned down by banks for not meeting their rigid credit-scoring criteria. Need conveyancing? Visit us at www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk for your free quote today!

Saturday 18 February 2012

House prices increasing at a snails pace while moving costs in UK fly...

According to a new report from Lloyds TSB the average cost of moving home has increased by a massive 69%, meaning you could be shelling out nearly £9,000 for the move, where as house prices have risen only 64%. Due to this imbalance property expert are urging home owners to bypass estate agents. While the Lloyds TSB report considered the various costs of moving home including estate agent’s fees, legal and survey fees and mortgage arrangement charges the average cost of moving home stands at a whopping £8,922. The fees that homeowners pay to estate agents remain to be the largest cost of moving, with agency fees accounting for 38% of the total costs of moving!! If you are moving house and want to save on conveyancing costs but don't want to compromise on quality look no further!! Visit us today to get your free quote! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

More and more landlords make a loss on buy to let properties...

Recent research by the BDRC Continental quarterly Landlords Panel has revealed that the largest rise in the number of portfolio landlords making a loss since the Landlords Panel began in 2006. The research shows that in the last quarter of 2011, the number of ‘portfolio landlords’ (those with 20 or more properties) who reported making a loss rose from just 1pc in the third quarter of 2011, to 8pc in the fourth quarter of the year. In the meantime, While portfolio landlords reaped the highest rental yields at 7pc, the average rental yields for all landlords fell from 6.7pc to 5.9pc in the previous quarter, in the final three months of 2011. The last quarter of 2011 saw rental yields for all landlords fall to their lowest level in the year. This is in spite of the fact that nearly half (46pc) landlords after increasing the rents for tenants in the 12 months prior to this, one in three (34pc)were planning to do so during the first half of 2012. For the best quality conveyancing at the cheapest prices visit us! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Friday 17 February 2012

Mortgage lenders offer first time buyers with small deposits a life-line.....

Multiple mortgage lenders are claiming to be offering lifelines to those who are buying a home for the first time who either have little equity in their property or a small deposit. BUT are any of them doing what they say on the tin? HSBC has launched a range of 90% loan-to-value mortgages for 2012, having set aside £3billion to assist first time buyers, while Hinckley & Rugby, Yorkshire and Marsden building societies all offer 90% loan-to-value deals as well. The loan-to-value deals are the percentage of the purchase price the borrower needs as a mortgage; so if you have a £10,000 deposit and borrow £90,000 to buy a £100,000 property the Loan-to-value is 90%. In general terms, the lower the LTV, the cheaper your mortgage rate will be. For your conveyancing solutions visit us!! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

New pictures of Christina Aguilera's $13.5m house released to boost sale.....

With the economic climate in it's current state and the property market struggling world wide, even celebrities a struggling to successfully sell their luxurious homes. However, in a bid to increase interest in her $13.5 million estate, Christina Aguilera has released a couple of extra photos of the Beverly Hills mansion, formerly owned by the Osbourne family. Aguilera originally brought the residence for $11.5million in 2008. Compare conveyancing with us!! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Thursday 9 February 2012

Thousands of people earning over £100,000 living in council houses...

New plans are being drawn up that will save the taxpayer over £100million by demanding that people pay the market rate of their property or move out? Most people are expected to refuse to pay the massive increases and to leave their properties instead as they could probably expect to live in better areas if they were paying the market rate. Almost 720,000 people (a fifth of council households) earn over the national average wage. For some London properties, tenants would have to pay £70,000 a year more than they are charged at the moment if they were renting their homes on the open market. Ministers believe voters will be ‘staggered’ to learn that people on such high incomes enjoy council homes subsidised by the taxpayer. Need conveyancing? Visit www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Tuesday 7 February 2012

After 6 years on the Market, Britain's tackiest house has sold!

Bigger than both Buckingham Palace and Hampton Court, Updown Court in Windlesham in Surrey stands as Britain's biggest repossession set in 58 acres of countryside. The mansion has been described as “a touch of California in the rolling fields of Surrey”, and boasts 27 bedrooms a banqueting hall, a panic room with its own ancillary air conditioning, a heated marble driveway, a master bedroom with its own pool and a bowling alley. The new owner, an unnamed Middle Eastern businessman who paid £36 million, will live in a space 30 times larger than the average family home embellished with five acres of marble and 24-carat gold mosaics. if you are planning on moving home, perhaps to somewhere without the 24 carat mosaics and banquet hall, and you need conveyancing, compare conveyancing prices with us FREE today! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Monday 6 February 2012

Most popular bank for house deposits? 'Bank of Granny and Grandad'...

A recent report has revealed that millions of young people continue to rely on the Bank of Mum and Dad for their only option if they wanted to jump on the property ladder. However hard times have hit and now increasing numbers of young people are tapping into the Bank of Granny and Grandad to help them with deposits for their first homes. need conveyancing? Visit us for your free quote today!! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Sunday 5 February 2012

Simon Cowell could lose millions in Barbados resort battle | Mail Online

A spectacular Caribbean resort in which Simon Cowell and Andrew Lloyd Webber have invested millions of pounds is embroiled in a legal dispute amid fears it may never be completed. The hotel and villa development in Barbados was billed as the ultimate millionaire’s hideaway, with investors tempted by plans showing luxury Balinese-style properties overlooking coral-white beaches. Villas on the 32-acre Paradise Beach site, which cost up to £18 million, come with an infinity pool, cinema, gym and wine cellar. Posted by Simon Bayliss. at Sunday, February 05, 2012 At Oxfordhomesdirect.blogspot.com For your conveyancing solutions visit www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Saturday 4 February 2012

Boost in Birmingham's housing Market due to high speed link on the horizon....

A brand new high speed railway between Birmingham and London, which is scheduled to have completed it's first phase in 2026, is looking like VERY good news for home owners in Birmingham According to Savills, by cutting only one minute off a commuter train journey from Birmingham to London, £1,300 is added to the price of the average terrace home, while increasing the price of a detached property by £2,250 for every minute saved. Need conveyancing? Visit us!! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Thursday 2 February 2012

Property firm in Belfast goes into administration with £50million debts

After Belfast property firm, Herd Estates, entered administration in December, the administrators have taken control of a 500 acre estate in Scotland as well as a collection of antique paintings in an attempt to make up a proportion of the £50million owed. The company primarily owned a large number of high street shop units in towns across the UK. It came under pressure as a result of the property crash and after the firm could not find a buyer for its core assets the administrator was appointed. For your conveyancing solutions visit us!! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk

Wednesday 1 February 2012

Chelsea Building Society fix mortgage deal at 3.19% on record low five year plan....

Chelsea Building Society Have recently launched record low rates on five-year mortgage deals at only 3.19% which could potentially spark a new battle to offer homeowners cheap money. However, it is only those who have a large deposit saved up or a decent amount of equity who will be lucky enough to be able to access these super low rates. The Chelsea deal is aimed at those house hunters who are looking to borrow up to 70% of the property’s value. Despite the headline rate being the lowest ever offered, it does come with a sizeable product fee of £1,495! Need conveyancing? Compare conveyancing with us! Www.helpfulconveyancing.co.uk